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Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “America for Beginners” by Leah Franqui, William Morrow, 2019
Leah Franqui, Author of “America for Beginners” has written an intriguing, captivating, entertaining, compassionate, witty, and emotional novel. The Genres for this story are Fiction, Women’s Fiction, and Multi-Cultural Interest. The story takes place in India and different areas in the United States. The timeline for this story is in the present and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters and events in the story. The colorful characters are described as complex, complicated, confused and flawed.
When Pavil’s husband dies, she is determined to leave India and find out if her estranged son Rahi is alive. Just prior to her husband’s death, he had told her that someone called and said that Rahi had died. That was before Rahi was banned from the family after he told his parents he was gay.
Using a tour company that supposedly upper-class Indians use, Pavil finds herself with two members of the company. Satya is a young man from Bangladesh, and Rebecca, a young Jewish actress. Of course, Pavil is not supposed to know where her tour guides come from. As they tour the different areas in the United States, the three are indirectly bonded in their search for different things.
I appreciate that the author discusses topics such as prejudice, emotional instability and depression, dysfunctional families, and poverty vs. wealth. The author also mentions compassion, the importance of emotional support, family, friends, love, and hope. I would recommend this intriguing novel.
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